A delegation from the International Trade Union Confederation
paid a 4 day visit to Qatar earlier this month.

The "Guardian" reported on this delegation's visit as follows...

'But after a four-day visit to the country by an ITUC delegation, the organisation's general secretary, Sharan Burrow, said they had found "no improvement in living and working conditions" of migrant workers.

"This is an easy choice for the Qatari government. The perplexing question is, why won't they take it? Professional and poor workers alike tell the same stories; they came to Qatar with optimism and goodwill, only to face despair when their employer decides they are disposable and refuses to pay wages, sacks them without benefits, and/or refuses to sign their exit permit."

Burrow said that during the visit the 11-member delegation held worker hearings and were shocked by "tales of terror", stories increasing numbers of women and children in detention centres, and rising discontent and unrest in workers in "squalid labour camps".

"What we've seen this week can be summarised as how not to design a system for the global workforce on any basis: human and labour rights; goodwill and international reputation or; productivity based on loyalty and efficiency," said Burrow. "International companies should be on notice about the reputational risk of doing business in Qatar without respect for workers' rights."

And even the FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, appears to be taking a tougher stance nowadays...

"Football's governing body, Fifa, has said: "Fair working conditions with a lasting effect must be introduced quickly in Qatar", and president Sepp Blatter admitted that widespread abuse of migrant workers was "unacceptable" following a meeting with international union leaders in Zurich.

The Qatari authorities have insisted they are being proactive and say the World Cup can be a catalyst for change.

Another footballer has at last managed to win his case for payment and an exit visa!

"Feb 12 (Reuters) - Former Morocco defender Abdeslam Ouaddou has won his case against a Qatari club after they failed to pay him for six months and then withheld his exit visa, the player said on Wednesday."

However, obviously there is still a long hard road to be travelled for expat professional footballers in Qatar...

"The trouble experienced by Abdeslam Ouaddou is not an isolated incident in Qatar," the union added in a statement.

"FIFPro is well aware of other players who find themselves, or have been in, the same unacceptable situation as Abdeslam Ouaddou."

Last year French footballer Zahir Belounis finally returned home, saying he was left stranded for 17 months in Qatar because of a financial dispute with his club.

"This practice must stop. Freedom of movement cannot be abused, not even in Qatar," said Brendan Schwab, head of FIFPro's Asia division.

"FIFPro urges the Qatari football authorities and local authorities to respect the rights of the key people who will deliver that World Cup: the workers who build the World Cup stadia and the players who play in them." (Reporting by Brian Homewood; editing by Tony Jimenez)

We look forward to the day when construction workers claim their outstanding payments! They have a harder time of it than the footballers, of course.

From today's "Guardian"...

"More than 500 Indian migrant workers have died in Qatar since January 2012, revealing for the first time the shocking scale of death toll among those building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.

Official figures confirmed by the Indian embassy in Doha reveal that 237 Indians working in Qatar died in 2012 and 241 in 2013. A further 24 Indians have died in January 2014.

These come after the Guardian revealed last month that 185 Nepalese workers had died in Qatar in 2013, taking the total from that country to at least 382 over two years..."

Maybe the Qataris could learn from the progressive steps taken in recent years in the U.A.E...

'On-site inspections were rare, regulations were still under development and accidents were common. Requirements for construction site safety plans were not enforced, and few workers were educated about the risks of the job.

"We have come very far since then," said Abdulaziz Zurub, who established the health and safety division at the municipality in May 2010 and is now its director.

"We started with the question of how to fill the gaps. This is a long trip, so we are slowly, systematically working." '